The present invention relates to recreational vehicles and particularly to an attachment system for attaching child safety seats to a dinette bench.
Standards have been developed by the Department of Transportation for regulating the attachment of child safety seats in a uniform manner in vehicles, such as automobiles. Such standards include FMVSS213 and FMVSS225 relating to the child restraints and the anchorage points, respectively. Basically, it is desired to provide a uniform system which meets minimum requirements which assures that a child safety seat will remain in situ in the event of an accident. Thus, for example, FMVSS225 for an anchorage point requires that an anchor point withstand a static force of 3000 pounds at each point with a maximum of 5xe2x80x3 deflection of the anchor point.
Typically, for vehicles such as automobiles, a commercially available child safety seat will be attached at two locations on either side of the child safety seat to anchor points located at the intersection of the vehicle seat and seat back. A third anchor point is provided higher on the seat back such that a tether at the upper portion of the child safety seat attaches to such anchor point to prevent the upper portion of the safety seat from lurching forwardly in the event of an accident. Such a safety seat installation cannot easily be accommodated in recreational vehicles, since other design considerations come into play. Front passenger seats are typically captain-chair type plush upholstered seats which render them virtually impossible to fasten safety seats securely to them. Further, some motor homes are equipped with passenger side airbags and child safety seats are not recommended for front passenger seats having such airbags.
Sofas employed in recreational vehicles typically are side facing and child safety seats are not designed or approved for a side-facing installation. Lounge chairs also frequently used in recreational vehicles behind the cockpit area are typically pedestal mounted and the mounting of a child safety seat in such a standard lounge chair would be extremely difficult due, in part, to the plushness of the chair itself. Further, the pedestal mount itself would normally not be able to withstand the above referenced stress and deflection requirements of an attachment system if mounted in such a seat. Thus, the floor and pedestal mount would of necessity need to be redesigned at a great expense and additional weight to the vehicle.
Recreational vehicles, such as motorhomes, for example, typically include a dinette with a table which can be lowered for converting the dinette into a sleeping berth. In order to accommodate child safety seats in a recreational vehicle, a bench-type dinette seat in a preferred embodiment of the invention includes three anchor points arranged in a triangle on the seat frame for the attachment of a child safety seat. A forward facing dinette bench seat allows room for the location of two child safety seats in the preferred forward-facing position. The footprint of such a bench seat distributes the load over a relatively wide area of the floor structure and, thus, can pass the stress and deflection tests. Use of a dinette, however, presents its own problems for the mounting of a child safety seat in view of the dinette table which, when in a raised position, would interfere with the parent attaching the child safety seat to a dinette bench seat as well as placing the child in and removing the child from the safety seat once attached. Thus, the dinette table preferably includes a drop leaf which provides sufficient clearance for the anchor mount deflection to prevent a child from contacting a table edge in the event of an accident or the table must be designed to be able to be moved to a lower position where it does not interfere with the safety zone of 5 inches.
Systems embodying the preferred embodiment of the invention comprise a bench-type dinette seat for a recreational vehicle having a frame with said frame including a pair of spaced-apart anchor bars positioned at the junction of a seat section and a back section of the dinette frame and a third attachment point positioned above and intermediate the first and second spaced apart anchors for the three-point attachment of a child safety seat to the dinette frame.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the dinette includes two such anchor systems such that two child safety seats can be mounted therein. In yet another embodiment of the invention, the dinette frame is made of tubular steel members. Suitable upholstery cushions are provided on the seat section of the frame and the back section of the frame, exposing the anchor points to the user. Such upholstery may include indicia aligned with the anchor points for providing the user with guidance in attaching the child safety seat to the dinette seat.
These and other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following description thereof together with reference to the accompanying drawings.